Divide And Conquer
by Wildcard
Summary: Crayak and the Ellimist are still playing their old games. This time, Crayak is given a week within which to corrupt the Animorphs, but he can only possess one Animorph each day. So far, he's taken on Marco, Rachel. His newest victim? Cassie.
1. Crayak

Prologue: Crayak 

  
I had made a deal with the creature they call the Ellimist. I, Crayak would be allowed to possess the Animorphs for a week. Seven days. One day for each Animorph. And that was including Rachel, the dead one, and the traitor David.  
  


If by the end of that period I could have turned their souls to me then I would be allowed to directly destroy Earth, if not, the Animorphs would survive the collision, and both Rachel and David would be free. Yes, Earth was still safe as the Animorphs had saved it, but at a high price since none of them survived that final collision. And the Ellimist, the emotional, caring Ellimist, wanted to save them, even at the cost of perhaps losing Earth, hence our deal. Time would be rewound to before Visser Two arrived on Earth and the war was made public, but after that disastrous attempt by the Andalites to create a virus to kill the Yeerks & their human hosts. Rachel would not have had to choose whether to kill David or not, but Tobias would have still been tortured. We had decided that this was the best time for both of us, for any earlier and they would resist too hard to give me a fair chance, but any later and they would be so steeped in darkness that the Ellimist would object to me pulling them any further in.

I could not interfere with them directly. I could however aggravate their dark sides. I could take control of their body and let them believe that they themselves were acting as I ordered them to on their own voliation. The real question was......which one to control first?  
  
Jake? Sanctimonious, tiresomely moral Jake? He has changed a lot since the start of the war. He is the one I hate the most for destroying my Howler army. No, I think I shall force one of his own team-mates to kill him so his death will be all the sweeter.  
  
Cassie? Kind, caring Cassie? She has so much pity and understanding in her that she is really quite sickening. No, I think I will let her see her boyfriend to give her a taste of insanity. Or better yet, I could make her kill him! To do that I will have to wait though… so no, not yet.  
  
Rachel? Filled with the desire to kill and fight? The darkness grows inside every day. She is already so close to me that I might be able to win her over without even needing to possess her! No, I will see if I can take her over without even stealing her mind and body.  
  
Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill? An Andalite, so prone to interfere in things that don't concern him. First I will make his team-mates turn on him so he will see how different Andalites and humans really are.   
  
Tobias? No! He has become so strong after Taylor tortured him. I will need time to break his spirit by robbing him of all he holds dear.  
  
Marco, ah yes Marco! Cold, ruthless, 'the ends justify the means' Marco will be the perfect to start the Animorphs on the road to destruction. Yes, Marco shall be my first tool.

Author's Note: I revamped after finally finishing the Animorphs series so that you'd have a definite time-scale to think about. 


	2. Marco

Divide and Conquer – Marco

  
Tobias.

  
I hate Tobias.

  
I don't know why I never realized before how much I loathe him. Now I know and I want to do something about it. I want to ruin his life! Everybody always acts so kind and considerate just because he is trapped as a hawk. Everybody always feels so sorry for him just because he doesn't know what happened to his mother and he had to watch his father die without knowing that it was his father. Everybody just assumes that because he used to get bullied and because his relatives don't care about him that they have to act extra nice to Tobias.

  
Well, guess what?!

  
Tobias can morph back! He doesn't have to be a hawk! And if he likes this war so much that he is sacrificing his human life just so he can risk his life then he's even crazier than Rachel! And who cares about his mother and father? My mother is Visser One! I had to set a trap to kill her! My father is getting remarried! To my math teacher! And Tobias's not the only one that gets bullied, I also used to be teased. But do people feel sorry for me? Do they think 'Oh, poor Marco, I had better be extra nice to him? No! They think that just because I'm the smartest and the most ruthless I'm some kind of android that can set a trap to kill his own mother without feeling bad about it!' It's all Tobias's fault. Ever since he started following Jake around after Jake stopped those bullies that were picking on him my life has been growing worse! I wish I knew a way to make him suffer the way I am suffering. Not to kill him, because then he wouldn't feel any pain but just to hurt him the way I am hurting. And I think, no I know, just how to do that…

  
I will have to get the timing right if I want to do this. First I have to get Rachel away from Tobias. That should be pretty easy to do. Cassie said that Rachel and Tobias were at the Taco Bell. I can't see them though, no wait the pretty blond over there is Rachel but where's Tobias? Doesn't really matter, if Rachel is alone, all the better.

  
"Hey Rachel." I said, strolling over and sitting down opposite her.

  
"Hey Marco." She replied unenthusiastically. If she isn't happy with me now, imagine how mad she'll be when-

  
"What?" I asked rudely, jolted out of my gloating thoughts when Rachel elbowed me in the ribs.

  
"I said, what are you doing here?" She repeated patiently.

  
"Cassie wanted to talk to you about something secret urgently." I lied. Cassie did want to talk to her but it wasn't urgent or even secret.

  
"Does she want me to come now?" Rachel asked eagerly, pushing back her chair as she stood up.

  
"Yeah, she does but shouldn't we wait for Tobias first? Where is he anyway?" I said, injecting a fake note of worry in my voice. As if I'd care what that loser was doing. 

  
"He had to go and demorph so that he wouldn't be stuck past the 2-hour deadline." She curtly told me.

  
"Oh, here he is now." I pointed towards the bathroom that Tobias had just exited.

  
"Hi Rachel? Hey Marco, what are you doing here? Did Jake call a meeting or something?" Tobias asked me.

  
"No." I said, trying to keep my contempt for him out of my voice. "Cassie wants to talk to Rachel."

  
"Okay, lets morph and fly over." Rachel suggested. We walked out of the shopping mall and morphed except for Tobias who demorphed. 5 minutes later a bald eagle, an osprey and a red-tailed hawk flew over the forest and into Cassie's barn.

  
"Rachel, you go and talk to Cassie and Tobias and I will wait here. Okay?" I asked.

  
"Okay." She said and practically ran out of the barn.

  
"Tobias?" I said, making it sound like a question.

  
Yeah?

  
"Can you morph to human?"

  
Why?

  
"Because I-I want to talk to you, face to face." I said, making my voice quiver. Inside though, I was smiling with glee. This is working out just fine. The only problem is that Tobias has to be human.

  
Okay, I guess. He fluttered down to the floor and began to demorph. I waited until he had finished demorphing and then moved. 

  
"What th-what are you doing?!!" he yelled as I quickly pinned him against the wall. 

  
"What am I doing? I'm making you sorry that you were ever born." I growled angrily. I guess that he could see the anger in my eyes because he started to struggle. The success of my plan depended on the fact that while I had been working out and making myself stronger, Tobias had only spent 2-hour intervals in his body and those hours were few and far between. I was stronger than he was and he couldn't demorph because then he would be vulnerable while he was demorphing.

  
I shoved him into the wall, so hard that he let out an involuntary gasp of pain. I suppose that he decided that I was too strong for him because he stopped moving, shut his eyes and waited for the beating that he thought would follow. I laughed silently inside my head. Oh no Tobias. I'm not going to beat you up yet. What I'm about to do is much worse. 

  
I tightened my grip and then brutally kissed him. His eyes flew wide open in shock as he really started to try and escape. He squirmed against the wall, as the panic in his eyes grew.

  
Oh, this is working out so well for me. Too bad I only have about 30 seconds left to ruin his life. He gagged and looked sick to his stomach when I inserted my tongue into his mouth. Shock, disbelief, anger, fear, hatred, disgust, humiliation…all those emotions showed on his normally expressionless face. 

  
It isn't over yet Tobias. I haven't quite finished with you. I could hear footsteps coming towards the barn so I loosened my death-grip on him but made the kiss harder and deeper. By now he had stopped struggling, probably waiting for me to let go so that he could escape. Not happening Bird-Boy. When I finish with you, you'll be too shocked to try and run away from me. 

  
I heard a gasp from the other side of the room. The look on Tobias's face when he saw who it was was priceless. After all, it was the last person he'd want to see at a time like this. I pasted a (fake) look of shock on my face and turned around slowly.

  
Blond hair, blue eyes, and an expression of pure disbelief.

  
Rachel.

  
"Oh my god-this isn't what it looks like Rachel!" Tobias blurted out.

  
"Really? Then what is it? I walk in here to see you kissing Marco?!" she shrieked.

  
"NO! You've got it all wrong! Marco was kissing me, not the other way around!" Tobias protested.

  
"Oh really? It looked like you were enjoying it!" 

  
"Tobias, you had better tell her the truth." I piped up.

  
"I will! Listen, I was just-then Marco-see what happened was-"

  
"I told him that we should have told you right at the start Rachel."

  
"Tobias shut up. Marco tell me what happened now!"

  
"You're listening to Marco! But-"

  
"I'm so sorry Rachel, we didn't mean for you to find out. We didn't mean for you to find out like this." 

  
"WHAT? He's lying Rachel! Don't believe him! I'd never cheat on you!" Tobias cried desperately, pushing me aside. His face was as black as thunder. 

  
Realization slowly dawned on her face. I smiled inwardly. Too late Tobias. She's already started thinking about what our kiss means. I changed my shocked look to a contrite, guilty look. She looked at me and then at Tobias. Then she looked back to me again.

  
"You-you mean that you and Tobias? TOBIAS! How could you? I'd never cheat on you! And why Marco? I'd understand if it were Cassie or some other girl but Marco? What was I? Some kind of experiment?" she demanded angrily. She then burst into tears and ran out. Tobias is gonna flip. It's amazing how well my plan worked out.

  
"Marco, you bastard! I'm going to kill you!" Tobias yelled and lunged for my throat. I sidestepped and grabbed his shirt collar. I punched him twice quickly. Hammer blows, blacking one eye and cutting him across his cheekbone. I then pulled him close to my face and blackened his other eye.

  
"If you think that you can keep me quiet by beating me up then you're even stupider than I thought!" Tobias said scornfully. I grinned at him.

  
"That was just for fun Bird-Boy. It doesn't matter what you tell Rachel because she won't believe you." I declared triumphantly. His eyes narrowed and then he punched me. Hard. So hard that I fell unconscious.  
  
Crayak:   
  
_I left Marco. I achieved all I could while using him. His hatred and envy of Tobias would remain although it was unlikely that he would do anything without me to control. What was most likely was that he would try to hurt them through insults, jokes and innuendoes. It didn't matter though. My purpose had been achieved. Rachel and Tobias had both been weakened. I would take Rachel first as she is so very close to my darkness and it should be easy to fan the little flame of hate inside her into a blazing fire. One Animorph converted, 6 more to go._

Author's Note: I'm not saying that Marco, Tobias or even Crayak are gay. I'm saying that it's a clever way of causing trouble. I do support slash, but I will be sticking to canon couples in this story. Hope you liked reading it – if you did, feel free to review (hint hint). 


	3. Rachel

Divide And Conquer  
  


I ran.  
  
And as I ran I cried.  
  
I ran as fast as I could, trying to run away from the barn. Trying to run away from what I saw, trying to forget. It didn't work. No matter how many miles I put between me and the barn, I could still see in my minds eye, the disgusting sight of the boy I loved kissing another boy. Tobias and Marco? How could they? No. How could he? Tobias said that he loved me, that he would watch over me forever, how could he betray me like that? I wasn't angry. I was too sorrowful, too hurt and heart-broken to feel angry. Anger would come later. For now I'm trying to heal these wounds inside my heart. Trying and not succeeding. I rationalized to myself that if Tobias was gay, then it wasn't my fault that he didn't love me, I just couldn't give him what he needed. That thought didn't make it any better.   
  
I ran far and fast, pausing only to morph to wolf and demorph. Night fell and still I ran. Running away from my pain, running away from my heartbreak. I could vaguely hear the clock strike twelve in the background but it made no difference to my keen wolf eyes which could see as well in the dark as in the day.   
  
Suddenly my pain disappeared. It was replaced by a fierce, burning anger. Like the anger I feel during a tough battle but subtly different. This anger was more…focused. It had a target, a person whom I should destroy. But who?  
  
Ax. Aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. A smug, superior Andalite. He thinks he's so smart, so capable and in control. Andalites are the meddlers of the galaxy, always poking their noses in what doesn't concern them. But when something comes along where they should interfere to help people do they? NO! They just stand aside and watch. Or even worse kill everybody and call it helping. Like they did on the planet of the Hork-Bajir, like they tried to do here. Ax knew about Tobias and Marco and he didn't tell me. Ax must have known. Tobias is what Ax calls a shorm, Ax's best friend. Ax is Tobias's 'uncle'. Tobias would have told Ax. And Ax didn't tell me. This is all Ax's fault.   
  
My tears had dried by now but I kept running as I demorphed and then morphed to grizzly bear. Now I was heading in a specific direction though instead of just running aimlessly. I was heading for Ax's scoop. I was heading towards the truth.  
  
I reached the outer perimeters of his territory and stopped. It occurred to me that if I was careful, I could find out exactly how long Tobias had been deceiving me. I demorphed, feeling strangely vulnerable, standing in the woods in the night. I had never been scared like this before. I felt fragile as if a butterfly flying past could shatter my world. My anger returned full force. This was Tobias's fault! I had never felt weak but just knowing that he didn't love made me feel as if I was made of glass. I would kill Ax for not warning me!  
  
I walked to the edge of his scoop and stood there. His stalk eyes turned towards me but his main eyes were fixed on the TV in front of him.   
  
Hello Rachel. Why are you awake? he asked. I was simmering on the inside but stayed cool. I mustn't let him guess how angry I am.  
  
"Oh, I was just thinking about stuff. You know things like how Andalites are such arrogant pieces of scum, even worse than the Yeerks because the Yeerks don't pretend to help  you and then stab you in the back." I answered in a deliberately light-hearted tone.  
  
WHAT? he practically shrieked. His tail-blade stiffened and he held it higher.  
  
"You know, at least a Yeerk would bother informing me that my boyfriend doesn't love me. Andalites seem to be such sadistic bastards that they don't even tell people the truth. Not to mention that some of them are treacherous cowards like you." I continued merrily, taking pleasure in how his expression changed from shock to anger.  
  
Has it occurred to you that maybe Tobias doesn't love you because you are a psycopathic killer who doesn't care which side you're fighting on as long as you get to fight! he retorted angrily, his expression darkening. At that something inside me snapped and I ran screaming towards him without even bothering to morph. I just wanted to kill him, to see his blood spill out, to hear his dying gurgle, to make him plead for his life.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me about Marco and Tobias!" I yelled as I ran towards him. He swung his blade towards me and I ducked, rolling on the ground to come up from underneath him and punch his side. He veered off to a side and I saw his tail-blade swing towards me once more but this time I couldn't avoid it. It hit me on the side of my head and knocked me out cold.

  
************_  
Crayak: I left her body and watched as the Andalite lifted up with his weak arms and then slung her onto his back. He began to move towards Cassie's farm. I followed, checking up on the other Animorphs as I did. Marco had gone to his mother and accused her of being a voluntary Controller and a spy for the Yeerks. He had then gone to the mall and spent his time shoplifting from the Gap, a human shop that had a Yeerk pool entrance. After that, he disguised himself and checked into a hotel. Jake and Cassie were both sleeping as it was after midnight. Tobias was flying frantically, looking for Rachel. I was confused. According to my calculations, she should have joined my side. Everybody has good and evil struggling for control inside them. And trying to kill Ax should have pushed her over the edge but she was still good and I couldn't understand why for her soul was now definitely evil but she hadn't attached herself to me. And then I understood why. Love. She was in love with Tobias. Even though she thought that he had betrayed her, Rachel still loved him. If I wanted to win her over, I would have to destroy her love for him or make her destroy him. The second option was more tempting but I couldn't for I had to collect all 7 seven souls and I would have to convert him first else I would lose his soul and lose the game. I had to act fast as I only had 24 hours in which to convert Rachel. Then I would have to wait another 24 hours before entering the next Animorph. I drifted above the Andalite and watched as he deposited Rachel in the barn. He then morphed to owl and woke Cassie. He brought her down to the barn. I decided that it was time for Rachel to wake up so I re-entered her. _

  
********  
I could hear voices. My head hurt. Those were my first two thoughts on regaining consciousness. I could recognize the voices. One voice was Cassie and the other was a thought-speak voice so it was Ax. I listened with my eyes closed, waiting for the pounding in my head to stop.  
  
"Ax, are you sure that Rachel said Marco and Tobias?" Cassie asked in an incredulous voice.  
  
Yes, I clearly heard her scream their names. She also insulted my race and accused me of  being a traitor. Ax said, his voice emotionless.  
  
"But I don't think that Tobias and Marco are together. I also don't understand why she should attack you if they are." Cassie said, sounding bemused.  
  
Apparently she thought that I knew about them and I had withheld that information from her.Ax suggested.  
  
"But-"Cassie started to say and then stopped. I heard the fluttering of wings. And I knew that it was Tobias. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but blue. I rolled my eyes upwards and saw the rafters of the barn. Okay, I was in the barn and Ax and Cassie were standing in front of me. I closed my eyes again.  
  
Hey, have you guys seen Rachel? I need to talk to her. I really need to talk to her. Tobias demanded.   
  
"Actually, she attacked Ax. Ax then knocked her out and brought her here." Cassie said, sounding slightly ashamed that she knew something about Tobias that he had kept secret.  
  
WHAT? Is she okay? he blurted out.   
  
Why would he care? He doesn't love me, he loves Marco. He lied to me, cheated on me and thought I wouldn't find out. Yet despite all that I still loved him. He was after all my first love and the first love is always the sweetest love. Still that is no excuse for what he did. For betraying me, he will pay. Forget about Ax for the moment, Tobias is a more immediate target. I wanted to morph but a little part of me, a cold, calculating part of me that I never knew I had told me that I had already tried brute force once and that it hadn't worked. The same part of me came up with a subtler plan. I could hear Cassie explaining what happened in more detail. I waited till she finished and then groaned and stirred. I stretched my arms out as if I had just woken up from a long nap and smiled innocently at Tobias who was now perched on the rafters above me.  
  
"Hello Tobias. Hello Cassie. Hello Ax." I said in a friendly tone.  
  
"How do you feel Rachel?" asked Cassie, sounding concerned.  
  
"Okay, but I have a slight headache. Tobias I want to apologize for reacting the way I did. If you and Marco are involved then I should just accept it for I love you and I want what is best for you." I said in a sugar- sweet voice. Tobias shifted uneasily on his perch.  
  
Uh Rachel, Marco and I aren't together and I love you too. I tried to tell you that but Marco kept interrupting. I wasn't kissing him, he just grabbed me and kissed me so that you would get the wrong idea about us.he explained in thought-speak. I pretended to sulk.  
  
"I don't believe you. You do love Marco and you are gay or at least bi. " I said petulantly.  
  
I really love you, and I really hate Marco. What do I have to do to convince you! he exclaimed. I tilted my face upwards and smiled invitingly.  
  
"Kissing me would be a good start." I said flirtatiously. He hesitated and then fluttered down. He began to demorph.  
  
"Tobias, I don't think that this is a good idea." Cassie protested weakly.  
  
"Oh, don't be such a prude Cassie. Tobias is my boyfriend and I have as much right to kiss him as you have to kiss Jake." I said in the same sweetly reasonable voice I had used earlier. Cassie looked surprised but made no further objections. Not so Ax. As Tobias walked towards me I saw him shake his head slightly at Ax, leading me to believe that Ax had tried to talk to him in thought-speak to stop Tobias from kissing me.  
  
I stood up and opened my arms. I then flung my arms around and pulled him closer until our lips touched. This kiss was different. Normally when we kissed it was sweet and gentle, loving and caring, slowly growing deeper and more passionate, pleasure mixed with a bittersweet regret that we couldn't do this more often. This kiss was filled with a wild hunger, uncontrollable desire. It was hard and rough and almost angry, untamed, uncivilized, harsh, and brutal. I gave him all my passion, all my love, trying to expel my love for him from me. I couldn't breathe, I didn't need to breathe, my body was burning, liquid fire running through my veins. I opened my mouth as he opened his and we slid our tongues into each other, still frantically kissing. I was molded against his body, not caring for anything but this last savage kiss. It was as if we were trying to devour each other. We separated unwillingly, opening our eyes and stepping backwards.

"Good bye Tobias. I knew that I could never forgive you for betraying my love for you but I wanted one last kiss to remember you by." I said as I turned on my heel and walked out of the barn. Tobias watched me go; I could feel his eyes boring through my back but I didn't turn back for now all my foolish emotion was gone. Drained, I was nothing but a empty vessel, waiting to be filled with hatred.

_Crayak:_

_Rachel was now mine as well. She, unlike Marco, was an empty vessel for after taking her humanity and her love for Tobias, she had nothing left except a wild exultation on the battlefield. For Marco though, I had left him his hate, knowing that would make him a more effective pawn. Now I possessed two souls out of 6, for it would be so easy to reclaim my old associate, David that I didn't even consider him souled any longer._


	4. Cassie

Divide And Conquer- Part Three

By Dreamer

*************

_I made up my mind. The next Animorph would be Cassie. Under my guidance,  kind, caring Cassie would become crazy Cassie. I watched her leave the barn and make her way home. I waited until the school day was past and the clock bells struck mid-night and then I entered her._

_************_

I had been tossing and turning restlessly, unable to sleep. The scene in the barn was being replayed in my mind over and over again. The way that Rachel had kissed Tobias and then run out, with tears streaming down her face. The way Tobias had watched her run out of his life without even trying to stop her, and the way Ax had just stood there looking confused. We hadn't seen any of them for the entire school day. Rachel, I suppose was skipping but it seemed strange that Marco also was. Tobias had just disappeared, and even Ax couldn't reach him. It just seemed so awful! Why couldn't people just get along?

I sighed and then buried my face in my pillow, half hoping that the lack of air would force me to stop thinking about all this. Why was I so helpless? Why couldn't I do anything?

NO! I could do something about this! I was an Animorph, and as an Animorph I was just as powerful as any of the others. But they were using their powers to hurt other people while I wanted to help the people. They must not hurt each other! I will stop it, for I seem to be the only one with a conscience, and I don't care what I have to do to stop them hurting people!

Filled with a sense of purpose, I morphed into a owl, and took off into the night sky, pausing only to devour a mouse on my way. Then I realized that as strong as I was, I was outnumbered and would therefore have to develop a plan. I swooped back, lifting my wings slightly and headed into the barn. I demorphed, found a bunch of tranquilizer darts, and tied them into a cloth parcel. Morphing back into an owl, I tested the weight and found that I could easily carry it. Clutching it tightly, I wheeled in circles over the forest, my senses alert for an Andalite. 

As soon as I saw Ax, I landed, taking care not to jolt my parcel and demorphed.

"Ax!" I said softly, tempering my voice with an effort. 

"Cassie." He replied graciously. How dare he be so smug and self-righteous? He has no right to be gracious when he comes from a race of killers. Just look at his tail, it shows what he is, and why he must be destroyed. I picked up the cloth, and managed to find a syringe.

"Ax, listen to me. There has been a gas leak from a nearby factory. The gas is toxic so we have all been issued syringes with iodine. Iodine is a mineral that will prevent the gas from poisoning you since it's an antidote. The others and I were looking for you so we could give you some." I explained hurriedly, holding my hand out with the iodine needle balanced on my palm. He looked surprised. Or maybe not. With Andalites, it's a bit hard to tell. But I was fairly sure that he had believed me. Why shouldn't he, though? After all, I am the good one in their team, and he is one of the evil ones who destroyed others.

"Are you sure that this is necessary Cassie? Perhaps this gas will not harm  me." He remarked hopefully, eyeing the syringe with slight distaste. I arched one eyebrow at him, and he reluctantly took the needle from me. Yes, Andalite, just inject it and I will save everyone from you and your evil tail! 

"Here, let me." I quickly offered, sliding it into his arm before he had a chance to object or even thank me. Then I stood back and waited for it to work. While I waited, I tied up the cloth again, being careful not to break any of the syringes. One Andalite down. Now all I must do is neutralize the others.

"Cassie."  How dare he interrupt my gloating! I looked at him  nd noticed that he was swaying a bit. "Cassie," and this time the words were slurred. "Cassie, I feel a b-bit, a bit, a bit uhh." With that he collapsed. I rolled my eyes, before morphing into halfway into my elephant morph. I managed to keep a humanoid form, if a rather large, bulky humanoid, but still have the elephants strength. I dragged Ax over to the barn, and used my new found strength to break some of the steel cages apart, and reform them into a bigger cage, that I then covered with transparent cloth, and sprayed with bug repellent. Now there was no way for him to escape, since even an Andalite blade couldn't cut through steel. I made another four cages, one for each of the Animorphs, and went to hunt again.

This time, I found Jake. Jake was easier, since he was my boyfriend. All I had to do was demorph around the corner of my house where I was invisible, and slide the parcel into my pockets.

"Hi Jake!" I trilled, burning inside to see the boy who was the leader of the Animorphs, who issued orders that ended in death. He smiled gratefully at me. He had been outside of his house, playing a game of basketball by himself. 

"Hi Cassie." He answered, bouncing the ball a few times before jogging over to me. "Why did you come here so late? Have you found out what happened to Marco or Rachel?" Sure, Jake, pretend to care, I sneered silently. I walked over and deciding to steal Rachel's move, slid one hand behind his neck and kissed him. Taken by surprise, he focused on kissing me back, wrapping both his hands around me, while I positioned the needle right at he base of his neck, quickly drove it in, and injected the contents into his neck. Startled, he pulled away from me, but since he had less of a body mass than Ax, the tranquilizer worked almost instantly. He too, collapsed onto the ground, and then I shifted into my wolf form, but demorphed my legs and remorphed them into elephant legs. That done, I grabbed the collar of Jakes shirts, and dragged him along with me as I ran to the barn. When I got there, I sealed him into one of the smaller cages.

Now I only had to find Tobias, Marco and Rachel. Rachel was probably the worst of them all, she liked hurting other people and didn't bother hiding it. At least the others had the sense to act ashamed and lie about it. That was why I decided that instead of randomly finding Animorphs, I would focus on her especially. I went on home and switched on the news, knowing that in her unbalanced state of mind, she wouldn't bother hiding the evidence of her evil acts. After a few seconds of channel surfing I found what I was looking for; live coverage of a grizzly bear that broke into an ice-cream shop and set it on fire.

This time, instead of morphing, I took  the nearest car I found, and hotwired it expertly, like Erek had shown us a while ago. I drove off to the ice-cream shop, and watched calmly from the sidelines as the police shot it full of tranquilizer darts. Finally, Rachel tired of the carnage, and shambling off to the sides demorphed as she walked so that by the time she reached the welcoming darkness she looked like just another spectator, except exhausted. In her reduced state, it was easy to slip up to her unnoticed and jab a needle into her arm. When she passed out, I quickly took her to the car, telling the few people that bothered to inquire after her, that she was my adopted sister who had fainted from all the excitement. 

I placed her in a cage as well, next to Jake and opposite of Ax, since I doubted the wisdom of allowing her to stay close to him. Now it was only Marco and Tobias left. Tobias was so obviously tormented by Rachels actions, that I doubted he would able to resist me well, so I ought to take scheming Marco first. After much thought, I decided that the most obvious place to look would be in the Hork-Bajir valley, so he wouldn't be there. But then where could he be? I decided to ask Tobias to help me, and then take Marco, and then get Tobias. 

I found Tobias after only a few minutes, since he was in his meadow, but not asleep. I hid the disgust I felt at seeing the predator bird that he was, and spoke to him sweetly. 

Tobias, I have to find Marco. Rachel wants to talk to him, but she said not to tell you where she is. Could you please help me find him? I spoke in thought-speech, thinking that it would be easier to lie to him. His wings fluttered in a semblance of anger and when he replied hatred and despair were warring for control.

Cassie, I really need to see Rachel and find out why she is acting like this. I don't what she told you, but she thinks that I'm together with Marco because he kissed me, but it was against my will, and I swear that I tried to explain but Marco got there first and she believed him instead of me. Tobias blurted out. Why did he even bother explaining? It isn't as if I care, all I care about is annihilating evil creatures like him. 

Oh, really? Well, then I've got an idea. How about you help me find Marco, then when we bring him back to Rachel, you can morph a flea and hide on him so when you reach Rachel, you can demorph and explain. I suggested in my sweetest voice. 

Cassie, that's perfect! Just keep me away from Marco though, else I won't be responsible for what happens. he warned me, very seriously.

Of course. Now come on, let's fly! I answered perkily, before taking off. With both of us looking, it was a fairly simple matter to locate Marco. He was staying in a cheap motel in the red-light district of the city. I demorphed, and Tobias did as well. We walked up the stairs and came through the doorway, figuring that he'd expect any Animorphs to go through the window. Without knocking, we just shoved the door open and walked right. 

"What are you two doing here?" Marco drawled, not removing his eyes from the TV. Tobias took an involuntary step forward, then shot me a glance, apparently unnerved by the drawl. I shrugged and then walked over to stand behind Marco. He still didn't remove his eyes from the TV, so I just injected the tranquilizer into his neck, in much the same way that I did to Jake. Almost instantly, he slumped down in his chair. Tobias moved forward. He hadn't caught the movement I had made to prick Marco.

"Okay, now Tobias, morph into a flea." I ordered, emptying the contents of one of the two remaining syringes into the chair as I did so. He nodded obediently, without even asking why Marco had fainted and started the morph, but not before demorphing into his hawk form first. As soon as I was sure that he was fully morphed, I quickly slammed the body of the syringe over him, then ripped the section of the carpet that he was on away from the rest, to send him flying next to the nozzle of the syringe. Before he could react, I slid the plunger back in, effectively trapping him inside the syringe. The only downside to this plan was that I could hear him yelling at me in thought-speech and there was no way to silence him.

I slipped the syringe into Marcos hand, then seizing him by the collar, dragged him out of the hotel, where the receptionist only gave me a look, and into the street, where I managed to flag down a taxi. I gave the driver the explanation that Marco was my boyfriend, and that I was worried that he had too much to drink. Tobias had shut up, mainly because he was still worried about people finding out about us and probably knew that this sot of a driver wouldn't be any help. He accepted the explanation without comment and drove off  after I gave him the address to my house. By now, it was almost time for me to wake up on usual days, so I settled back, weary from the continuous morphing. Before I knew it, the driver was shaking me awake outside my house. He held out his hand for the money I owed him for the ride, but instead I slapped the syringe into it, nose down, and pushed the plunger. As soon as he was out, I put him back into his cab, so it would like he was just sleeping. I dragged Marco to the barn and locked him in a cage, and just to be on the safe side, I threw Tobias and his bottle into another cage. 
    
    Now all the evil murderers were under one roof, it would be easier to destroy them. A well-made fire should do the trick… 

Crayak:

At this point, I had to leave Cassie. I had turned her pacifism and dislike of war into fanaticism, and now she was prepared to become that which she despised to destroy that which she despised. Also, I would lose if she killed the Animorphs before I had a chance to convert them, so it would be easier to leave her. Without my presence, she would most likely deem it enough to have disabled them, and consider it unnecessary to actually destroy them. It didn't matter anyway for by making her a traitor, I had claimed her for my own.


End file.
